Hul’q’umi’num: se’uq
SENĆOŦEN: SEḴȺN
Diitiidʔaaʔtx̣: siʎa
Latin: Pteridium aquilinum
Photo Credits: H.T. Brent
Description: SEḴȺN is a large deciduous fern with solitary, erect fronds that grow 3–5 m tall from spreading, hairy rhizomes. The stalks are straw-coloured to greenish, and the blades are triangular and 2–3 times pinnate, with 10 or more pairs of mostly opposite leaflets. The lowest pair is narrowly to broadly triangular, and the leaflet margins are rolled under.
Photo Credits: plantsam.com
Harvest and Sustainability: It grows in a wide range of habitats, including meadows, roadsides, clearings, burns, avalanche tracks and dry to wet forests. It also thrives on sandy soils and acidic sites such as lakeshores and bogs.
Harvested in spring and fall depending on uses.
Photo Credits: animalia-life.club
Uses: Fiddleheads are harvested in spring, before they reach 15 cm tall; the larger they are, the longer they should be dried and cooked.
The rhizomes are harvested in fall and either dried and cooked in pit ovens or roasted over a fire until the outer skin and central fibres can be removed. Because they are constipating, they were often eaten with fish eggs or oil.
The fronds were also used as a layer in pit ovens.
